Hearts On The Table

Been there, done that, messed around...

-Bulletproof, La Roux

I was stuck on this chapter for a long time, not knowing what to write. I eventually managed to make myself just write, so I hope it's decent haha.

Hope you enjoy.

After numerous attempts at trying to call Ziva, Tony finally gave up. He decided to head over to McGee's and see how Abby was doing. He got in his car and stopped at a little convenience store on the way to get her something to cheer her up. Not long after he left the convenience store, he arrived at McGee's apartment. He knocked lightly on the door and waited a few seconds.

"Hey Tony, come in." Tim gestured for him to enter.

"Thanks, I just came to see how Abby's doing. I bought her a few things to cheer her up." DiNozzo explained.

"I'm sure she'll be happy to see you. Do you mind just sitting with her while I take a shower? She's a bit shaken up still." Tim questioned.

"Yeah, of course. No problem at all." He patted McGee on the shoulder and headed to sit with Abby.

"Hey Abs, I bought you a few things to cheer you up." She smiled as he sat down next to her and emptied the bag; a bottle of wine, some flowers, chocolate and a Caf-Pow! that he'd picked up earlier.

"Thank you." She leant into his side and hugged him. He wrapped his arm around her to comfort her.

"No problem at all. I'm so glad you're ok! I even shouted at Vance in the process." Tony chuckled, remembering Gibbs' reaction. Abby shot up, surprised that Tony would do that. Usually it was Gibbs yelling at Vance.

"Oh my god, really?" Abby's smiled returned.

"Yeah! He was being a douche about getting us a temporary forensic scientist, so I ended up just yelling at him. Things got serious; I even called him Leon." This was shocking to anybody in the agency, because Vance was a very stern man, and didn't take nicely to people calling him by his first name – not even Gibbs. Tony knew it wasn't really a big deal, but he just wanted to cheer Abby up.

"Leon? Wow, you really are getting confident." She punched him playfully in the arm.

"I'm obviously over-exaggerating. I just wanted to cheer you up." He smiled at her, but it was full of sympathy.

"I've decided I'm just going to be over what happened. It could've been so much worse and I need to move on rather than feeling sorry for myself." Abby explained, still hugging him.

DiNozzo unwrapped his arm from Abby's shoulder and sat up to face her. "That's the Abby I know!" He grinned at her and grabbed her for a huge hug. "I'm proud of you Abs, you never fail to amaze me." McGee entered the room wearing his pyjamas, which made Tony decide to leave. He stood up, ready to say his goodbyes.

"Where's Ziva, by the way?" McGee queried, still towelling his hair dry. DiNozzo's stomach dropped at the mention of her name, the dilemma being bought back to mind.

"Ummm, I'm not sure really..." He trailed off as he scratched his head.

"You went back to the Navy Yard together though, didn't you?" McGee's expression turned to confusion.

"Yeah, but then this...thing...happened and now I don't know where she is. But you don't need any more drama today so I'm just going to head home." DiNozzo tried to escape, but Tim glared at him.

"What happened?" Abby asked.

"I'll tell you when I've figured it out myself. I'll see you guys tomorrow." DiNozzo waved as he let himself out. McGee and Abby were curious as to what the problem could be this time.

"Can we watch horror movies?" Abby grinned, trying to persuade McGee. His face turned slightly pale after remembering the last time they watched one.

"Only because you've had a stressful few days!" He pointed to her, joining her on the couch.

DiNozzo stumbled out of the lift and meandered over to his apartment. He took a mouthful of whiskey before opening the door and walking in. He shrugged his jacket off on to the floor and collapsed down onto the sofa.

"And this is why you should never accept feelings..." Tony slurred out to himself. "FUCK!" He yelled into the quiet darkness, taking another mouthful of whiskey straight away. He let his head fall to rest against the back of the sofa. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the drunkenness consume him.

"I didn't think you resorted to alcohol anymore..." Ziva's voice sounded out of nowhere. DiNozzo's head shot up, shocked at how he hadn't heard her come in. But then again, she was a ninja assassin, stealth was kind of a necessity.

"Jesus! You scared the crap out of me!" DiNozzo sat up abruptly. Ziva replied with nothing and headed into the kitchen. Tony stumbled up after her. He placed the bottle of whiskey on the kitchen table and sighed. The apartment was still in full darkness as Ziva leaned against the counter opposite.

"I stressed out so bad." DiNozzo started to speak. Ziva didn't bother with a reply. "The night that I came to apologise when we fell out, it was because of McGee. I told him that I thought I loved you. I didn't tell you that night because I wasn't sure if either of us were ready for it. And I didn't want to be saying because of the circumstances. I didn't want you to think that it was some made up thing so you'd forgive me. Then the other day I went for lunch with McGee. I told him that I loved you. I freaked out so bad thinking about how you would react. I wasn't planning on telling you that night in the bullpen. I was just sat there thinking about everything that had happened with Abby, and it made me realise that I couldn't hold it in any longer." DiNozzo took a deep breath and slowly walked out of the kitchen, rubbing his head.

"I'm obviously not giving you what you want, so I'll just go." Tony headed to the bedroom.

"I love you, you stupid fool. I love you more than anything in this world. There's never a moment I'm with you that I'm not happy. You're giving me everything that I want, because I have you." She stormed over, grabbing his face and kissing him fervidly.

"God, Ziva." He placed his forehead against hers. "You sure know how to scare me." They both chuckled, before Tony lost balance from the alcohol and ended up falling over, pulling Ziva down with him. They lay on the floor, all tangled up, laughing.

I really struggle telling anybody that I love them haha, that's why I held it off so long in the story. And because I didn't want it to be a cliche part of the fanfic, like when everybody makes them say it straight away.

I actually like the last chunk of this.